Astroblog

Obscured by Clouds. The rough and ready blog of a cloud benighted biologist and amateur astronomer. Astroblog will cover my interests in astronomy, biology and Life, the Universe and Everything.

Friday, January 31, 2014

What is up in the Sky for 2014?

Occultation of Saturn on May 14. Inset shows telescopic view.

What's up in 2014? There's lots of good stuff happening in the sky to look forward to, I've written an article about what we can expect (a partial solar eclipse, two total lunar eclipses, three occultations of Saturn and three comets) for ABC science online. You can read Your 2014 Aussie sky guide here.

Monday, January 27, 2014

The Sky This Week - Thursday January 30 to Thursday February 6

The New Moon is Friday January 31. Jupiter is
the brightest object in the evening sky, visible all night. Mars is
prominent in the early morning.
Saturn rises higher in the morning sky. Venus reappears low in the morning sky. Nova Centauri still visible.

The New Moon is Friday January 31. The Moon is at perigee, closest to the Earth, on January 30.

Evening sky on Friday February looking north as seen from
Adelaide at 21:00 pm ACDST
in South Australia. The inset shows the view of Jupiter through a
telescope at this time. Europa and Callisto's shadows are on Jupiter, and Europa has just recently exited the face of Jupiter Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the
equivalent local time
(click to embiggen).

Jupiter is in the constellation Gemini. It is the brightest object in
the evening sky. Jupiter was at opposition on the 6th of January, when
it was brightest and closest to Earth, but will remain bright and easily
observable in telescopes for several months.Jupiterrises
around 19:00 pm local daylight
saving time, and is highest just before midnight. It is high enough to observe telescopically in
the mid to late evening.

In the early evening it is
above the north-eastern horizon near the bright stars Castor
and
Pollux, the twins of Gemini. Jupiter is quite easy to see as the brightest
object in the entire sky. Jupiter's Moons are readily visible
in
binoculars.

February 6 has an interesting patten of Jovian Moons, with Europa just coming off the face of Jupiter, while the shadows of Europa and Callisto remain on Jupiter.

Morning sky on Sunday February 2 looking east as seen from Adelaide at 5:00 am ACDST in
South Australia. Mars is near the bright star Spica, Saturn is near the head of the
constellation of the Scorpion. Crescent Venus is just above the
horizon. The insets show telescopic views at this time. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at
the equivalent local time (click
to embiggen).

Venus is in the morning sky, low above the eastern horizon. It will be difficult to see without a clear level horizon. Venus rises progressively higher during the week, and is a distinct crescent shape.

Mars rises still higher in the morning sky, and is visible well before twilight. Mars is is in the constellation of Virgo near the bright star Spica. Saturn is visible above the eastern horizon before dawn. Saturn is in Libra near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion. It is high enough in the early morning for decent telescopic observation.Mercury is lost in the twilight.

Location of Nova
Centauri 2013 as seen looking north from Adelaide at 11:00 pm ACDST
local time.The location is marked with a square. Similar views
will be seen at the equivalent local time in other Southern Hemisphere
locations. Click to embiggen.

V1369 Centauri, Nova Centauri 2013
near beta Centauri keeps on keeping on.
Now that the Moon has gone from the evening sky is still bright enough
(magnitude 5.5-6 as I type, it has been undergoing a series of outbursts)
to be
seen faintly with the unaided eye, and very easily in binoculars. It is
one of the brightest nova known,
and over 50 days later it is still interesting to follow, maybe there
will be another bright outburst, although there has not been an outburst for a while. The nova is now high enough in the
evening sky from around 11 pm on for a good look.

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially
with Venus so prominent in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

Australia Day 2014

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Bright Supernova 2014J in Galaxy M82!

Supernova 2014J in galaxy M82 imaged using iTelescope T5. The image is a stack of 2 x 60 second unfiltered images. The supernova is indicated by the arrows. Click to embiggen

A bright new Type 1a supernova has been discovered in the galaxy M82, it has now been given the permanent designation of SN 2014J. Currently around magnitude 11 (I get it a little bit brighter), it is expected to brighten over the coming days, and may reach the binocular visible level of magnitude 8.

Chart of the region around M82, the circle indicates the field of view of 10x50 binoculars. Click to embiggen.

Unfortunately it is only visible from the northern hemisphere, in the Constellation of Ursa Major, not far from the brightest star in Ursa Major, Dubhe. The Galaxy M82 is reasonably bright, at magnitude 8.6, and the brightening supernova can be picked up with relatively short exposures. At the moment the best time to image the supernova is between 12:00 am and 2:000 am, when it is high in the sky.

There is a nice animation here. Some confirmation images from the Remanzacco Observatory are here, and Peter Lake gives a nice overview of supernova hunting.

Aurora Alert 23-24 January (tonight and tomorrow morning)

A coronal mass ejection is due to give us a glancing blow from around 11 pm
tonight. Minor storms are predicted for high latitudes (Southern Tasmania,
Southern South Island New Zealand, Australian Antarctic Territories) late
tonight or early Friday morning. Aurora can strike any time one the CME hits, so
if you are looking from around 11 pm on there might be a chance to see aurora,
weather permitting. Weak aurora were reported in Tasmania around 11pm last night
(after I had gone to bed).

SUBJ: IPS AURORA WATCHISSUED AT 0100 UT ON 22 Jan 2014 BY IPS
RADIO AND SPACE SERVICESFROM THE AUSTRALIAN SPACE FORECAST CENTRE

A
Coronal Mass Ejection is currently predicted to arrive at Earthduring 23
January UT. The bulk of the CME is not Earthward directedbut a glancing blow
may lead to a minor geomagnetic storm. Modestauroras may become visible from
the southern coast of Tasmania on theevening of 23 Jan (assuming the CME
arrives as predicted). Auroraalerts will follow should favourable space
weather activityeventuate.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

The Sky This Week - Thursday January 23 to Thursday January 30

The Last Quarter Moon is Friday January 24. Jupiter is
the brightest object in the evening sky, visible all night. Mars is
prominent in the early morning, and is close to the Moon on the 24th. Saturn rises higher in the morning sky and is visited by the waning Moon on the 26th. Venus reappears low in the morning sky and is close to the crescent Moon on the 29th. There is a series of bright International Space Station passes. Nova Centauri still visible.

The Last Quarter Moon is Friday January 24.

Evening sky on Thursday January 23 looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 21:12 pm ACDST
in South Australia. The International Space Station is passing by Jupiter at this time. The inset shows the view of Jupiter through a
telescope at this time. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time
(click to embiggen).

Jupiter is in the constellation Gemini. It is the brightest object in
the evening sky. Jupiter was at opposition on the 6th of January, when
it was brightest and closest to Earth, but will remain bright and easily
observable in telescopes for several months.Jupiterrises
around 19:30 pm local daylight
saving time, and is highest just after midnight. It is high enough to observe telescopically in
the mid to late evening.

It is
above the north-eastern horizon near the bright stars Castor
and
Pollux, the twins of Gemini. It is quite easy to see as the brightest
object in the entire sky. Jupiter's Moons are readily visible
in
binoculars.

January 30 has an interesting patten of Jovian Moons, with all the Moons lined up on one side of Jupiter, in pairs.

This week see the end of a series of bright passes of the International Space Station. For more details about seeing them from your location see this link.

Morning sky on Wednesday January 29 looking east as seen from Adelaide at 5:00 am ACDST in
South Australia. Saturn is high above the horizon, near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion. Crescent Venus is just above the horizon, near the crescent Moon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click
to embiggen).

Venus returns to the morning sky, initially difficult to see in the twilight, it will rapidly grow brighter. On the 29th the crescent Moon is near the crescent Venus low above the eastern horizon.

Mars rises still higher in the morning twilight, and is visible well before twilight. Mars is is in the constellation of Virgo near the bright star Spica. On the 24th Mars, Spica and the crescent Moon make a nice triagle in the sky, a little wider than the one on the 23rd, but nice nonetheless.Saturn is visible above the eastern horizon before dawn. Saturn is in Libra near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion. It is high enough in the early morning for decent telescopic observation. On the 26th the waning Moon is close to Saturn.

Location of Nova
Centauri 2013 as seen looking north from Adelaide at 11:30 pm ACDST
local time.The location is marked with a square. Similar views
will be seen at the equivalent local time in other Southern Hemisphere
locations. Click to embiggen.

V1369 Centauri, Nova Centauri 2013
near beta Centauri keeps on keeping on. Now that the Moon has gone from the evening sky is still bright enough (magnitude 5.5 as I type, it has been undergoing a series of outbursts) to be
seen faintly with the unaided eye, and very easily in binoculars. It is one of the brightest nova known, and over 50 days later it is still interesting to follow, nmaybe there will be another bright outburst. The nova is now high enough in the evening sky from around 11 pm on for a good look.

More detailed spotters charts and instructions are here. There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially
with Venus so prominent in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

WAKE UP ROSETTA! The Rosetta Spacecraft Wakes up on Monday

The Rosetta Spacecraft, the first spacecraft to orbit a comet and drop a lander on a comets surface, will wake up from 3 years hibernation on Monday. We hope.

Some spacecraft perform there missions flawlessly, some get to within a whisker of the mission and fail, every comet fan is crossing their fingers (or cultural equivalent), that Rosetta safely wakes up and completes the final leg of its 10 year flight to comet Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.

Another Image of the 16ths Mini-Moon (16 January 2014)

The Moon imaged on 16 January with a 1/250th second exposure at ISO 1600 taken
with a Pentax K10D through my 4" reflector using a a T-ring adaptor. The image is a mosaic of two images, assembled in The Gimp then I messed around with the curves feature to produce more contrast between the maria, highlands and bright rays.

Click to embiggen for full effect (including the mosaic join line that I can't make go away).

The first full
Moon of the year, on 16 January Australian time, occurred with the Moon at apogee, when the Moon is
farthest in its orbit from Earth.

This was not only the smallest full Moon of
2014, it was the smallest since the Full Moon of November 18th, 1994 and no Full Moon will be smaller until May 13th, 2052.

Comparison of the January 16 mini Moon and the August 11 "Super" Moon simulated in Stellarium.

Later this year on August 10 UT (August 11 Australian time), the Full Moon coincides with perigee, when the Moon is closest to Earth.

On Jan 16th, the Moon was 406536 Km from Earth at furthest remove, while on August 11 it will be 356896 Km away at closest approach.

While the effect is really obvious in a telescope, visually it is very hard to see the difference even if you have fantastic eyesight. On January the 16th 2014, the apogee diameter was 29'32", for the perigee Moon of August 11 it will be 33'90". In both cases the Moon around half the width of your finger, and 4' (that's minutes of arc, about 4 human hairs in width) different. This is around the limit of what humans can distinguish. If you have great eyesight and and a great memory you will be able to distinguish between the January and August full Moons.

Otherwise you need a telescope and exactly the same
zoom enlargement to see the difference, see Inconstant Moon for instructions. I'm planning my August shoot now. If you are thinking of taking a shot ourelf now is a good time to start planning as well, the next apogee Moon (not as good as this one), is Feb 6, 2015.

For a list of full/new Moons and the dates of apogee/perigee see here.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Southern Cross with parts of Carina and the Southern Pleiades. Down the bottom is the pointers, with Nova Centauri clearly visible (indicated by arrow). Image is a stack of 10 x 15 second exposures at ISO 400 taken with a Canon IXUS. Click to embiggen. The images aligned and stacked using Deep Sky Stacker. Stacked image
imported to The Gimp and brightness enhanced. Image taken 11-01-2014.

Close up, Beta Crucis is at the top of the image Nova Centauri clearly visible (indicated by arrow). Image is a stack of
10 x 15 second exposures at ISO 400 taken with a Canon IXUS at 3x Zoom. Click to
embiggen. Image taken 11-01-2014.

Over the past 46 days the nova has oscillated in brightness, after becoming one of the brightest nova since 1891. With 4 outbursts since the initial one, it has been keeping well above magnitude 5.5 (magnitude 6 is the limit most people can see under dark skies, many suburban sites let you see down to magnitude 5).

This behaviour suggests that this is a slow nova, like V723 Cas and V5558 Sag, where the primary star is a low mass white dwarf. The multiple outbursts of this kind of nova suggest we may be seeing V1369 Cen for some more days to come, and maybe even be a few more outbursts (see the graphs near the end of this paper and here). I haven't seen any mention of whether it is a Helium/Neon nova, where the blast sends neon blasting off the white dwarf surface, but this spectrum is intriguing.

The images above were taken on 11 January, before the Moon made the sky too bright to see the Nova with the unaided eye, the Moon is now rising later, so the nova will be visible in dark sky sites with the unaided eye. It may even be visible in some suburban locations if the magnitude stays above 5.5.

Catch a Series of Bright International Space Sation Passes (18-25 January 2014)

The ISS passes near the Southern Cross, as seen from Melbourne on the evening of Saturday 18 January
at 22:28 AEDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a
bright dot), click to embiggen.

The ISS passes through the Southern Cross, as seen from Adelaide on the evening of Saturday 18 January
at 21:56 ACDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a
bright dot), click to embiggen.

The ISS passes through the Southern Cross, as seen from Perth on the evening of Saturday 18 January
at 20:55 AWST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a
bright dot), click to embiggen.

All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Saturday 18 January for Melbourne.

All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Saturday 18 January for Adelaide.

All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Saturday 18 January for Perth.

Starting tonight there are a series of bright evening passes of the International Space Station lasting a week. For many places in Australia this series has the ISS gliding either through or under the Southern cross (early in the week), depending on where you are, and coming close to bright Jupiter mid week.Some of the passes are very short although bright as the ISS enters Earth's shadow. Similarly none of the passes near Jupiter get very close as the ISS enters Earth's shadow, but it is interesting to see the ISS wink out abruptly.

When and what you will see is VERY location dependent, so you need to use either Heavens Above or CalSky
to get site specific predictions for your location (I'm using Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth as examples, for example, the view from Melbourne is radically different from that of Adelaide and Perth on the night of the 22nd). Even the difference between the city centre and the suburbs can mean the difference between seeing the ISS go through Orion's belt or just below it.

Start looking several minutes before the pass is going to start to get yourself oriented and your eyes dark adapted. Be patient, on the night there may be slight differences in the time of the ISS appearing due to orbit changes not picked up by the predictions. The ISS will be moving reasonably fast when it passes near Jupiter, so be alert as it enters Earth's shadow very quickly, ending the view.

The ISS passes near Aldebaran and the Pleiades, as seen from Melbourne on the evening of Wednesday 22 January
at 22:25 AEDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a
bright dot), click to embiggen.

The ISS passes above Jupiter, just before entering Earth's shadow, as seen from Adelaide on the evening of Wednesday 22 January
at 21:55 ACDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a
bright dot), click to embiggen.

The ISS passes above Jupiter, just before entering Earth's shadow, as seen from Perth on the evening of Wednesday 22 January
at 20:58 AWST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a
bright dot), click to embiggen.

All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Wednesday 22 January for Melbourne.

All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Wednesday 22 January for Adelaide.

All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Wednesday 22 January for Perth.

Tonight's mini-Moon (16 January 2014)

Catch the smallest full Moon of the year tonight

Tonights Full Moon (Thursday January 16), the first full Moon of the year, occurs with the Moon at apogee, when the Moon is farthest in its orbit from Earth. This is the smallest full Moon of 2014, indeed, it is the smallest since the Full Moon of November 18th, 1994 and no Full Moon will be smaller until May 13th, 2052.So if the heat is not too great, pop outside to see a small wonder lighting up the sky.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Jupiter Near the Moon (January 15, 2014)

Evening sky on Wednesday January 15 looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 22:00 pm ACDST
in South Australia. The inset shows the view of Jupiter through a
telescope at this time. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time
(click to embiggen).

Jupiter is just past opposition (January 6th), and is the brightest object in the sky (aside from the Moon).

It is now visible all night long, rising around 7:30 pm local daylight saving time. It is highest just after midnight.

Despite being the brightest object in the sky (aside from the Moon), it might not be easy to locate Jupiter if you are not already familiar with the sky. However, on the evening of January 15, Jupiter is just a handspn to the left of the nearly Full Moon.

So all you need to do is face north-north east and locate the Moon, the bright object immediately to the left of it by around a handspan is Jupiter. Note the time, adn the direction you are facing (and the stars nearby), and you will be able to locate Jupiter over the coming nights when the Moon has moved away.

If you have binoculars, Jupiter's Moons will look quite nice (see image above) although there will be no eclipses or transits (unlike on the 18th, when there will be some nice events). Even in small telescopes, Jupiter,s cloud bands can be seen. Watching the changing face of Jupiter and its Moons over several nights can be very rewarding.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Will We See Meteors for Comet ISON on January 15 and 16 (Not Likely)

Where comet ISON would be on January 15, 2014. Any debris from the breakup of ISON will be Centred on this location, well above Earth between the orbit of Earth and Mars.

Once again we are seeing claims of a possible meteor shower from the long departed Comet C/2012 S1 ISON. Comet ISON broke up as it rounded the Sun, a rapidly fading cloud of dust was seen exiting the STEREO H1 A imager, but despite repeated attempts, no on has been able to observe the remnants of ISON since.

The meteor claims come from three different sources. Each with a different likelihood of happening, all either non-existent or remote.

1) Debris from the breakup of ISON back in late November - early December.

Nope, not happening. When comets break up they don't go all explody like in Hollywood. The debris remains fairly close to the original orbit of the comet (we have numerous examples where we have seen this). Also, the comet passed its closest approach to Earth back on December 26th (at our closest we were a bit under half the distance from Earth to the Sun).

The nominal position of ISON is now well above Earth's plane of orbit, between the orbit of Earth and Mars. Any remnants of the comet are close to this position so, no, no meteors from the pile of gravel and dust formerly known as ISON.

2) Dust released from ISON as it was approaching the Sun.

Around November 2 the comet passed 0.0227128 AU above the plane of Earth's orbit (this is 10 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon). On the 15th and 16th (AEDST, 14th and 15th Universal Time) Earth will be close to where ISON passed.

BUT, what will be passing is dust that was released two and a half months earlier (EDIT Jakub Cerny points out that orbital and solar wind/light pressure issues means that it is likely the dust will have been released mor tha 2.5 months earlier), when the comet was far less active, also the comet was passing above Earth's plane of orbit, so the solar wind will have been pushing any dust away from Earth (although larger particles will keep to the original orbit). As well, ISON turned out to be relatively dust poor compared to other comets.

However, if we do get meteors, they should be originating from the sickle of Leo (see this post from Rob Lunsford at the American Meteor Society, his dates are for America though). The image above (click to embiggen) shows the view at 2 am ACDST as seen from Adelaide on 16 January. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia (and other Southern hemisphere locations) at a similar local time.

Given the low likelihood of meteors in the first place, and the full Moon close by, I will be surprised if anyone sees any meteors.

3) Dust blown back from ISON when it was closer to the Sun.

Despite the title of the article, this wasn't about meteors (the NASA PR department should hang its head in shame). Meteor researcher Paul Wiegert suggested that ultra-fine dust particles from ISON might be blown back onto Earth by the solar wind, forming noctilucent clouds (NOT meteors).

However, as ISON turned out to be smaller than we thought, and less dusty than average, this scenario is also much less likely now.

Summary

Meteors from ISON, not likely, but going out on the early mornings of the 15th and 16th could be possibly pick up one or two meteors per hour that may be from ISON (or none).

The Sky This Week - Thursday January 16 to Thursday January 23

The Smallest Full Moon of the year is Thursday January 16. Jupiter is the brightest object in the evening sky, visible all night. Mars is prominent in the early morning and the Moon is close to Mars on the 23rd. Saturn rises higher in the morning sky.

The Full Moon is Thursday January 16. The Moon is at apogee on the 16th.
This is the smallest full Moon of 2014, indeed, it is the smallest since the Full Moon of November 18th, 1994 and no Full Moon will be smaller until May 13th, 2052.

Evening sky on Saturday January 18 looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 22:00 pm ACDST
in South Australia. The inset shows the view of Jupiter through a
telescope at this time. Jupiters Moons are about to do some interesting things. The X marks the approximate position of the Pioneer 10 probe. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time
(click to embiggen).

Jupiter is in the constellation Gemini. It is the brightest object in
the evening sky. Jupiter was at opposition on the 6th of January, when
it was brightest and closest to Earth, but will remain bright and easily
observable in telescopes for several months.Jupiterrises
around 19:30 pm local daylight
saving time, and is highest just after midnight. It is high enough to observe telescopically in
the mid to late evening.

It is
now well above the north-eastern horizon near the bright stars Castor
and
Pollux, the twins of Gemini. It is quite easy to see as the brightest
object in the entire sky. Jupiter's Moons are readily visible
in
binoculars.

Venus is lost in the twilight, it will return to the morning sky towards the end of January.

Morning sky on Thursday January 23 looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 5:00 am ACDST in
South Australia. Mars is high above the horizon, forming a triangle with the star Spica and the Moon. Saturn is lower to
the horizon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click
to embiggen).

Mars is is in the constellation of Virgo near the bright star Spica. Saturn is in Libra.

Mars rises still higher in the morning twilight, and is visible well before twilight. Saturn is visible above the eastern horizon before dawn. It is almost high enough for decent telescopic observation.

Mercury is lost in the twilight.There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially
with Venus so prominent in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

And now for something completely Different (a photo of Jupiter)

Thursday, January 09, 2014

Moon 9 January 2014 (OR what you do while waiting for Aurora)

The Moon imaged on 9 January with a 1/60th second exposure at ISO 1600 taken
with a Pentax K10D through my 4" reflector using a a T-ring adaptor.
Click to embiggen for full effect

The Moon imaged on 6 January with a 1/60th second exposure at ISO 1600 taken
with a Pentax K10D through my 4" reflector using a a T-ring adaptor.
Click to embiggen for full effect (the compare with the image from the 4th).

The Crescent Moon imaged on 4 January with a 1/60th second exposure at ISO 1600 taken
with a Pentax K10D through my 4" reflector using a a T-ring adaptor.
Click to embiggen.

More testing with the Pentax in through telescope mode while waiting for aurora. I think I'm getting a better handle on the focus. Now if I can only get Registax to actually stack the images!

Sunspot AR 1944 Still Looking Awesome

Sunspot AR 1944 imaged using my Canon IXUS (400 ASA) and 4"
Newtonian
(infinity to infinity focussing with a 25 mm eyepiece) on 9 January at 7:00 pm AEST, AR 1944 is the largest one just above the middle. Click to embiggen

Sunspot AR 1944 imaged using my Canon IXUS (400 ASA) and 4"
Newtonian
(infinity to infinity focussing with a 25 mm eyepiece) on 7 January at
8:00 pm AEST, AR 1944 is the largest one in the middle. The white
circle at the top is lens reflection. Click to embiggen

Sunspot AR 1944 imaged using my Canon IXUS (400 ASA) and 4" Newtonian
(infinity to infinity focussing with a 25 mm eyepiece) on 5 January. There are
multiple sunspots, AR 1944 is the one shaped like Australia (see inset)
with New Zealand off to the right. Click to embiggen

Giant Sunspot AR 1944 is still awesome as it begins to rotate off the Sun (compare the images above taken on the 9th (today) with the 7th and the
5th). I could still easily see it this afternoon with just eclipse viewing glasses, I've used a bigger Zoom than before (not intentionally, I was trying to match the previous images) I used two pairs of glasses to try and enlarge the preview image, so I think my focus is better.

This is anticipated to arrive at Earth
on January 9 (Thursday) around 08:00 UT (which is 19:00 AEDST) +/- 7 hours! (so
it could arrive as early as midday or as late as 2 am on the morning of the
10th).

The Sky This Week - Thursday January 9 to Thursday January 16

The Full Moon is Thursday January 16. Jupiter is visible in the evening sky and the Moon is close to Jupiter on the 15th. Mars is prominent in the early morning. Saturn rises
higher in the morning sky.

The Full Moon is Thursday January 16. The Moon is at apogee on the 16th.

Evening sky on Wednesday January 15 looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 22:00 pm ACDST
in South Australia. The inset shows the view of Jupiter through a
telescope at this time. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time
(click to embiggen).

Jupiter is in the constellation Gemini.Jupiterrises
around 19:45 pm local daylight
saving time, and is highest just after midnight. It is high enough to observe telescopically in
the late evening.

It is
now well above the north-eastern horizon near the bright stars Castor and
Pollux, the twins of Gemini. It is quite easy to see as the brightest object above the north-eastern sky. Jupiter's Moons are readily visible in
binoculars.

Morning sky on Sunday January 12 looking east as seen from Adelaide at 5:00 am ACDST in
South Australia. Mars is high above the horizon, Saturn is lower to
the horizon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click
to embiggen).

Mars is is in the constellation of Virgo. Saturn is in Libra.Mars rises still higher in the morning twilight, and is visible well before twilight. Saturn is visible above the eastern horizon before dawn. It is almost high enough for decent telescopic observation.

Mercury is lost in the twilight.There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially
with Venus so prominent in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

Tuesday, January 07, 2014

Giant Sunspot AR 1944 Keeps on Growing

Sunspot AR 1944 imaged using my Canon IXUS (400 ASA) and 4" Newtonian
(infinity to infinity focussing with a 25 mm eyepiece) on 7 January at 8:00 pm AEST, AR 1944 is the largest one in the middle. The white circle at the top is lens reflection. Click to embiggen

Sunspot AR 1944 imaged using my Canon IXUS (400 ASA) and 4" Newtonian
(infinity to infinity focussing with a 25 mm eyepiece) on 5 January. There are
multiple sunspots, AR 1944 is the one shaped like Australia (see inset)
with New Zealand off to the right. Click to embiggen

Giant Sunspot AR 1944 continues to grow, it is now almost dead centre of the Sun (compare the images above taken on the 7th (today) and the 5th). I could still easily see it this afternoon with just eclipse viewing glasses despite the thin haze of cloud. Shortly after the image above was taken, the Sun sank below the roof top, so my focus is not as good as before.

For aurora fans waiting breathlessly, while AR 1944 has the complex magnetic field that can produce X class flares it has so far failed to produce any. Today's M class flare was from another sunspot group. .

Monday, January 06, 2014

Moon 6 January 2014

The Moon imaged on 6 January with a 1/60th second exposure at ISO 1600 taken
with a Pentax K10D through my 4" reflector using a a T-ring adaptor.
Click to embiggen for full effect (the compare with the image from the 4th).

The Crescent Moon imaged on 4 January with a 1/60th second exposure at ISO 1600 taken
with a Pentax K10D through my 4" reflector using a a T-ring adaptor.
Click to embiggen.

More testing with the Pentax in through telescope mode. Doing more test shots at ASA 800 and 1600, with various exposure times, even with the Moon being brighter and higher above the horizon, ASA 1600 and 1/60 second exposures seem to be the best. Still having issues with focus, but now that I have a better handle on exposure I can get a better handle on the focus issues.

Sunday, January 05, 2014

Crescent Moon, 4 January 2013

The Crescent Moon imaged with a 1/60th second exposure at ISO 1600 taken with a Pentax K10D through my 4" reflector using a a T-ring adaptor. Click to embiggen.

I'm slowly learning how to use the Pentax K10D fro astrophotography. Did a whole series of test shots of the young crescent moon with the 4" Newtonian. Testing out different exposure and ISO combinations. Had to cut things short as the Moon went behind trees before the sky was fully dark. STill haven't got the hang of focussing yet.